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March 28, 2024

Abbas adviser says Trump visit could reopen path to talks

Palestinians

Nasser Shiyoukhi / AP

Palestinians work on a poster depicting U.S. President Donald Trump in preparations for visit in the West Bank town of Bethlehem , Monday, May 22, 2017.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — A senior Palestinian official says he expects President Donald Trump's visit to the Holy Land to reopen a path toward resuming long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Trump is meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday in the West Bank's biblical city of Bethlehem.

Trump has said he wants to broker a deal that has proven elusive for the past two decades. The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel half a century ago.

Abbas' adviser Majdi Khaldi told the Voice of Palestine radio that in the short term, renewed negotiations must address the Palestinians' economic problems that are linked to continued conflict and Israeli restrictions on trade and movement.

Khaldi says that "this visit will open the way for relaunching the peace process."